LOOKING FORWARD

Philippians 3:13-14 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

When I was small and bumped into things, my dad would tell me to either look where I was going, or go where I was looking. Now I’m older I’d like to follow the first part of his advice and make sure I’m going forward and keep looking towards it.

Too often, when we’ve had difficult things happen in our past we can look back with regret or sadness, or even resentment if something wasn’t even our fault. But Apostle Paul learned dwelling on the past was definitely the wrong thing to do, no matter how much we try to justify it.😊

I was chatting with someone the other day and they seem stuck, going over and over what happened years ago, and they have so lost their joy in their present as a result. They refuse to let it go because they can’t understand it, but in the times we don’t understand we need to know God is still in control of our lives and trust Him to do things His way in our future.

I’m sure we could all make a big deal over some things that happened to us, but why should we let our past destroy our future as well? That seems such an unwise thing to do! We can’t change the past, and we’re not always privileged to know the whys and wherefores, but we have to trust God to lead us into the good future He has promised us. 

I read this yesterday ‘Make peace with your past so it doesn’t mess up your future’. The thing is if we’re looking back all the time, for whatever reason, we won’t be able to reach forward to grasp the good things God still has planned for us up ahead. The oldest man alive is 111, so even if you’re 91 you may still have 20 years of God filled purpose and blessings to go before He takes you home!😊 The oldest woman alive is 117!

God doesn’t want us to allow past mistakes, or loss, or hurts or betrayals to steal our future as well as our past. God has given us permission to look forward and to press on to better days ahead. Maybe we need to get a revelation that we’re not going to change anything by dwelling on what might have been, or what was, but let God give us a great sense of expectation of good of what He has for us still to come and live with His joy in our hearts. Amen. 

Job 8:7(CEV) Your future will be brighter by far than your past. 😊

Photo: Anastasia Zhenina on Unsplash